Donald Trump the Good, the Bad & the Ugly (6 months later)

One month after he was sworn in as President I posted the Good, the Bad & the Ugly on President Trump’s first month on the job.(see below)  Now that he has been President for over 6 months it’s time to revisit my view of the man and the job he is doing.

The Good

With some exceptions, I was originally impressed by the people he appointed to his cabinet and otherwise.   It is now apparent that regardless of the people he appoints that he will do what he wants and if anyone gets in the way they will be fired, or ignored.  The treatment he has given to Attorney General Sessions is appalling and the same can be said about his National Security Advisor and the Secretary of State. Good men who are trying to hold things together for a President who at best is an incompetent jerk or worse a man who has a lot to hid.  I know this is supposed to be “The Good” but I am having a hard time finding anything good to say about President Trump other than a good Supreme Court pick and the fact he isn’t Hillary. There were so many good men from my party to pick and it is a Greek Tragedy that Donald Trump got the nomination. 5 months ago I had hope for President Trump and had some doubts about being #Nevertrump during the election. I no longer have any hopes for President Trump, those doubts are gone. I made the right decision to not vote for him in the Oregon Primary and not vote for him the General  Election ( For the record I did not vote for Hillary).

The Bad

We live in a dangerous world and the enemies of Freedom in Russia, Iran, North Korea and China will take advantage of a crisis of leadership in the United States.  I originally had doubts that the Russians had anything on Trump and was critical of the Democrats and the Main Stream Media for spending so much time on it. I opposed the appointment of a special investigator. And was no fan of FBI Director Comey.   However, with what is happening to Attorney General. Jeff Sessions, I no longer have any doubts that President Trump is deathly afraid of what will come out. He is a man who acting like he has something to hide!  If he forces Sessions out and makes a “recess appointment” of one of his cronies to be AG who then fires Mueller we will have a real Constitutional crisis . The same will be true if he starts issuing pardons to his family and associates to keep them quiet.

The Ugly

President Trump is an ugly man on the inside and it keeps coming out. I agree with his stated positions on many things but do not believe he believes them and is just saying them because he knows that’s what his ardent followers want to hear. He brings out the worst in people and will continue the deep divisions exacerbated by President Obama However where Obama was a smooth operator. Trump is cruel and crude. He enjoys hurting people and I am not talking policy. As a Conservative Republican since Goldwater and Bill Buckley it hurts to see so many of my Conservative friends taken in by this con-man. I understand and feel the anger against Hillary, Obama, the Liberal Media and most of the academia  on our campuses, turning this country into Europe or worse. I see the culture of our country turn its back on hard work small government, freedom and individual responsibility.  Trump will not reverse this trend but will set back the Conservative cause for  a generation. I am not yet advocating Impeachment as it would nullity a valid election and  in turn make our  divisions deeper.  My hope is evidence will come out that will convince a large majority of Americans that President Trump must resign so that a good man, Vice President Pence, can take over.  However, President Trump along with some of his allies on Fox News (not all, there are some good people there) and other Trump agitators will poison our democracy and that he really could shoot someone on 7^th Avenue in New York and his followers would stick with him. 

We are in for a rocky ride America. It’s bad and ugly but for a political junkie it is exciting.  It’s only going to get worse before it gets better and as yet I see no light at the en

Jim Wickre Birth Family Tree (best guess based on DNA)

Click to enlarge


One of the questions I often get at the doctors office I can never answer is "does.....run in the family?" I always answer I am adopted and I don't know.

The above information about my  birth parents  is based upon circumstantial evidence based upon DNA through Ancestry.com (1-3) cousins, "DNA Circles" * ,"New Ancestor Discoveries", Y-DNA through FamilyTree.com, family trees of the extended Hawkins, Brown, Worthen and; McMullin families and where they intersect, location and opportunity. In other words, who in those families were in Salt Lake City, Utah in the late years of World War II on or near VJ-Day and the ages and marital status of the prospective parents. Key single members of the Hawkins and Worthen families lived within 1.8 miles of each other in Salt Lake City during the key periods. The Catholic Hospital where I was born was in-between!  I welcomes additional evidence based upon family histories  or otherwise that supports this analysis or contradicts it. If true, this is a sad story of very young kids who produced a child before they were ready to be parents. I would much prefer a different result. However in the end, I was adopted by great parents and have no regrets. Information of family medical history would also be greatly appreciated! On a further note, if anyone has concerns about any breach of  privacy please let me know since that is not my intent. Both of my  purported birth parents have been deceased for  20 years or more, but if there are any others, please advise and your concerns will be resolved to your satisfaction.

My purported father  came from the old line Mormon families that settled Utah the Worthen and McMullin families. He was 15 to 20 when I was born. My purported birth mother was from the Hawkins and; Brown family's that had settled in Kansas and later in Colorado and Washington State. However, one couple , husband a Hawkins and wife a Brown, settled in Salt Lake City.  They were Methodist. Their daughter was About 15 when I was born. Good thing for me abortion was illegal in Utah in 1946.

Update: since writing this I have discovered my birth mother from the Hawkins family. She is deceased but I have a number of half sisters and brothers through her confirmed by dna tests.

On interesting fact is that I am related to a signer of The Declaration of Independence, George Ross of Pennsylvania. Look him up! There is a reason I love the musical  movie/play "1776"!  No, he is not portrayed in the movie.

*"DNA Circles" is a great feature on Ancestry.com where they group people with similar DNA in Circles so you can see how you are related to each other based upon Family trees that have been filed for various families.  

President Trump: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly!

Now that President Trump has been elected and in office for about one month here is my assessment.

First of all I am a Conservative Republican and have been one since the draft Goldwater campaign of 1963- 1962.  I voted for Marco Rubio in the Oregon primary in May of 2016 and wrote in Evan McMullin in the general election of 2016. Until the election I was #neverTrump. I believe in limited government, maximum individual freedom and the responsibility that goes with it.

The Good:

I have liked most of Trump's appointments to his cabinet and in particular General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense, Betsy DaVos at Education, Nikki Haley as UN Ambassador, Tim Price at HHS, Scott Pruitt EPA, General  John Kelly at Homeland Security, Ryan Zinke (an Oregon Duck) at Interior, Mike Pompeo at CIA and Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence. I am taking a wait and see about Rex Tillerson at State and Jeff Sessions as AG.

I love the nominations/appointments of Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill Judge Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court and General  H.R. McMaster to be National Security Adviser.

All in all a good group of advisors around the President with a few exceptions as outlined below. I will be the first to admit I am pleasantly  surprised that he made these appointment. He now has some really good people around him.  

I think President Trump is correct that  he will NEVER get a fair deal out of the Liberal Main Stream Media and is correct in trying to neutralize their attacks on him provided he recognizes their 1st Amendment Rights.  I agree with him that many in the entrenched Federal bureaucracy  including Obama holdovers will attempt to sabotage him and his agenda and it is important for him to take them on. I am very of skeptical  alleged leaks coming from the bureaucracy. The Democrat strategy to President Trump appears to be a scorched earth policy that will cause many to rally to Trump.

I believe in enforcing the laws of this country and as long as we have immigration laws they need to be enforced in a humane manner. If laws are ignored then that breeds disrespect for all laws. Every country has the right to enforce and defend it's borders.   No question that we need immigration reform but until that happens the law is the law!

The Bad:

I  still don't personally like Donald Trump. I don't think he is a good person and I don't like his style. He is a bully and I don't like bully's. He can be cruel and often overstates his case. As much as I dislike the Main Stream Media they are not the "enemies" of Americans. He is erratic, self centered, undisciplined and thin skinned.

I strongly dislike Steve Bannon his chief strategist. I believe he appeals to President Trump's "dark side." 

It was also a big mistake to appoint Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor but thank goodness he is gone and replaced by a good man.

I don't understand why President Trump has a blind spot regarding Russia's Putin. Is it a mistake as to strategy or something darker? 

The Ugly:

President Trump's Inaugural Address was the ugliest and meanest  in U.S. history and I saw Steve Bannon's fingerprints all over it.

 The vetoing of Eliott Abrams to be Deputy Secretary of State because of campaign criticism of Trump in the campaign  was wrong!. Secretary of State Tillison needs a strong deputy to get control of the State Department and President Trump let that cloud his judgment when Tillison sought Abrams appointment.

The rollout of the Executive Order on limiting immigration from certain countries. I agree  the President has the authority to make such decisions under current  law and the courts that ruled against him did so for political and not legal ground but, non the less, it was clumsy and a self inflicted defeat.

This country is deeply divided and was before President Trump became President.. President Trump will not bring us together and will further divide us not only on policy but because of his personality.  I saw and see in Senator  Marco Rubio  a real conservative that could help bridge our differences and bring civility back into politics.. However, the country was so divided in 2016 that each side was only interested  in appealing to it's base regardless of the consequences. I firmly believe that the anger generated on the Right by Obama's 8 years of only appealing to his Left led to President Trump! I also see the Democrats still moving farther to the Left!

In Conclusion:

 I remain a President Trump skeptic. I will support him when he is attacked unfairly by the Left, the Main Stream Media, Democrats and the Obama/Hillary sore losers.  I will defend him when he makes Conservative appointments and works for Conservative policy. I will work against him when he doesn't and  if he  fails to recognize the evil of Russia's Putin. Russia, Iran China and North Korea are run by evil men and we need a President who recognizes this and takes action to protect us and the world!

I didn't vote for him, but Donald Trump is my President and because I love this country I want him to succeed!